As an avide cycling this is a big deal to me and way to go on the cops. This girl deserves everything she gets for this. Far to many people in cars do not give me the respect or even the room safely on the road.

Like 3ft min when passing me on the road. Do not cut me off ect. Sorry but I do not have a big metal cage to procect me and with the bike and gear I am maybe 200 lb to your cars 3000+lb. I have been almost clipped more than once by mirrors and honk at by drivers who had the room to get over and go around me. there was no traffic but they did not want to OMG change lanes to pass me or in one case wait 10-15 extra for me to clear the interestion so they gun it around me then cut me off forcing me to slam on my so I on my bike would not slam into them doing 20 mph. That one oddly enough got multiple middle fingers at the guy from witnesses in cars which were waiting for me and my fellow riders to make it clear. We though it was great that we had their support.

Sorry for the rant to many dumb asses out there who do not know how to treat cyclist or have any clue on the law.

I admire folks who make fitness a priority or cycle for cost effective transportation but I gotta think you have to be a little crazy too. There are way too many folks out there on the phone, putting on makeup, shaving, reading or just plain bad drivers. Like you said, the bike is 200lb and the car is 3000lb -- a losing proposition any way you slice it.

I admire folks who make fitness a priority or cycle for cost effective transportation but I gotta think you have to be a little crazy too. There are way too many folks out there on the phone, putting on makeup, shaving, reading or just plain bad drivers. Like you said, the bike is 200lb and the car is 3000lb -- a losing proposition any way you slice it.

oh I will admit we are a little crazy.

You have those idiots like you listed who are crappy drivers.

The ones who feel entitled to the road like the one with the tweet piss me off. They seem to think bikes have no rights to the road.

Sorry for the rant to many dumb asses out there who do not know how to treat cyclist or have any clue on the law.

I read the tweet. I'm quite sure it will go to court, because she (1) caused an accident, (2) disappeared from the scene of the accident without identifying herself, which would actually be criminal and also void her insurance, (3) she was informed by the police via her twitter account and asked to contact the police and if she didn't do that they will throw the book at her (when you are in a traffic accident, you _must_ come forward, no right to avoid self incrimination there), (4) her comments on twitter show clearly that she has no intent to follow traffic rules, (5) her comments on twitter show clearly that she has no remorse whatsoever but actually enjoyed causing the damage.

There's also the coolness factor of punishing a criminal who is just too stupid. We had one criminal in court, apparently not enough evidence to convict, he posted on Facebook "I think I got away with it", and that was enough evidence for the judge to put him away :-). This is not an old boring traffic accident, so the cops will do what they can to get her. And as a judge, it's a story to tell your fellow judges, and I would expect that to have some influence. One judge says "Just yesterday I convicted a double murderer". Other judge says "That's nothing, I convicted a woman because she was so stupid to post her crime on twitter". First judge: "Well, that beats my double murderer. Have a beer on me".

The problem is that cycling in the UK has exploded in popurlarity all of a sudden and drivers just aren't used to having so many cyclists on the road.

But its a catch 22, there are just as many wreckless drivers as there are reckless cyclists and vice versa.

Common things that drivers aren't doing is checking mirrors, or becoming frustrated being stuck behind cyclists, and a lot of them take exception to cyclists passing cars on the left (between the car and the pavement), obviously if that was a car doing it to another car it would be considered and undertake, which is illegal here, and cyclists really dont see the problem with it, despite the fact a lot of cyclists are killed by lorries turning left because they're sitting on the left of a lorry in the drivers blind spot.

On the flip side cyclists are quite happy to jump red lights, swap between pavement and road without checking (despite it being illegal to cycle on the pavement here) and only last night did I see a cyclist on the road, dressed in black, with no lights or reflectors.

Motorcyclists aren't exempt from sheer road stupidity either, they undertake all the time, and ride into oncoming traffic to get round jams, expecting the oncoming traffic to pull over to let them through the middle. I live near a big sunday meeting spot for bikers, so obviously I seem them get giddy with excitement and do stupid things a lot more than most people.

At the end of the day types of road users do stupid things. This girls downfall was thinking she was better than the cyclist because she pays "roadtax" and the cyclist didnt, this was part of her downfall, road tax is actually covered by income tax in the UK which everyone pays, she though road tax is actually what is officially called VED tax, and that only applies to vehicles that pollute, and the money is supposedly used for green initiatives (although we all know it isnt). But bragging about it on twitter is stupidity, pure and simple.

The ones who feel entitled to the road like the one with the tweet piss me off. They seem to think bikes have no rights to the road.

When you have a small road with no shoulder and a bike rider going half the speed limit with no room for a car to pass what else is going to happen. Either we build bigger roads or the bike has to keep up with traffic.

__________________

The thoughts in my head are rated TV-MA. Viewer discretion is advised.

When you have a small road with no shoulder and a bike rider going half the speed limit with no room for a car to pass what else is going to happen. Either we build bigger roads or the bike has to keep up with traffic.

End of the day bike holds up traffic.
vehicle
How is that any different than when you have a slow moving vehicle on the road?

And there are very few roads that are only 1 lane. At the very least it will be 1 lane in each direction so it is fairly easy to get to a point were you can go around said bike and add in the fact you can see farther down the road.

Now as a cyclist if I am on that road I try to keep abreast to see on how many cars are trap behind me and how long they have been there.
Worse case I am waiting for me to get to a point where I feel safe moving over and signalling them to go by.
Give me my 3ft. I also ride in the middle of the lane for no other reason than to force cars to change lanes as that is about the only way I get 3ft of clearance as legally they would have to change lanes to give me that much room. Removes them from trying to pass me in the lane.

In my home state in Australia, drivers of heavier vehicles are required to give a metre distance from cyclists in a single lane and on a multi lane road the driver is required to change lanes The cyclist as a legitimate road vehicle is entitled to a full lane by riding in the middle of lane- I find this the far safest way to ride in the city. It stops cars squeezing by you. I see far too many other cyclists riding too close to parked cars. It is incredibly dangerous. One door could see you lying on the road in the path of oncoming traffic.

Australian cyclists are legally able to undertake at traffic lights. I generally don't like doing this as I like motorists having to repeatedly overtake me. I'll only do it if there is room off the main lanes, or it is a safety issue. In the city I invariably wait in the queue with cars taking up the entire lane. I can actually accelerate faster on a bike than a mass of cars.

These laws are pretty well useless because the vast majority of drivers are ignorant of them.

I've pretty much stopped riding now. Somebody stole my excellent Trek 520 tourer a while back. I was bit sick of the aggro from the usual suspects and I worry because I tend to react with more aggression when one of the extremely small minority of disturbed individuals (I'd put it at 1 or 2 percent) give me a hard time. One time I hassled a truck driver for skimming past me. He stopped further down the road after I tapped on his window at the next set of lights and mouthed a few obscenities at him. He got out his truck and he was massive. I am tall and he was about my height, but his little finger was about the size of my thumb. I would have had the living crap beaten out me but it was obvious he didn't want go back to jail- he had a heap of prison tattoos. I was scared crapless.

I was an avid cyclist for years, and I used to regularly do multi-day trips across Michigan when I lived there. I've seen some truly unrepentant maniacal drivers out there, and I've seen people use their cars and trucks to intentionally run cyclists off the road. One year someone was killed just up the road from me.

I've also seen some incredibly dangerous cyclists. I've watched someone blow by a school bus that was stopped to unload children, apparently because he didn't want to mess up his cadence. I've seen innumerable cyclists not even attempt to slow down for stop signs, and a few who have blown through red lights at major busy intersections.

Folks, if you're in a motor vehicle please share the road; it does you no harm at all. If you're on a bicycle, don't be a bloody fool.

__________________The rising People, hot and out of breath,
Roared round the palace: "Liberty or death!"
"If death will do," the King said, "let me reign;
You'll have, I'm sure, no reason to complain."

i don't want to debate about who has the right of way, but this girl is an idiot in many ways.

There's nothing to debate about. Bikes have just as much right to the road as cars. That's the law.

This stupid girl should see some jail time and lose her license for at least 5 years. She probably shouldn't have even been given a license if she's that clueless on driving laws. Driver education programs are failing everywhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacNut

When you have a small road with no shoulder and a bike rider going half the speed limit with no room for a car to pass what else is going to happen. Either we build bigger roads or the bike has to keep up with traffic.

The bike doesn't have to "keep up with traffic." Last I checked, I haven't seen any roads other than interstates that have posted minimum speed limits. A bike going 15 in a 30 is no different than a car going 15 in a 30. If you don't have room to pass, you don't have room to pass and you have to wait. No different than if you're stuck behind grandpa in his Oldsmobile driving 20 in a 30 or whatever.

The bike doesn't have to "keep up with traffic." Last I checked, I haven't seen any roads other than interstates that have posted minimum speed limits. A bike going 15 in a 30 is no different than a car going 15 in a 30. If you don't have room to pass, you don't have room to pass and you have to wait. No different than if you're stuck behind grandpa in his Oldsmobile driving 20 in a 30 or whatever.

This is something I wish more people in motor vehicles understood.

The world will not end if you have to slow down temporarily.

__________________The rising People, hot and out of breath,
Roared round the palace: "Liberty or death!"
"If death will do," the King said, "let me reign;
You'll have, I'm sure, no reason to complain."

There's nothing to debate about. Bikes have just as much right to the road as cars. That's the law.

This stupid girl should see some jail time and lose her license for at least 5 years. She probably shouldn't have even been given a license if she's that clueless on driving laws. Driver education programs are failing everywhere.

in this instance yes, but we've all seen idiot bikers too. i don't want to say they deserve to get hit, but...

When you have a small road with no shoulder and a bike rider going half the speed limit with no room for a car to pass what else is going to happen. Either we build bigger roads or the bike has to keep up with traffic.

The bike has to keep up with traffic? Get real. Have you ridden a bike on the road? This is hugely impossible on most roads.

My town is big on cycling. We are to share the road and when I, or any other driver encounters a cyclist riding without anywhere to go onto the shoulder, we tail the cyclist and wait for oncoming traffic to clear enough to swerve around them (if the road is a two-lane road). It is simple, it takes little time, and should not be seen as an annoyance because having 2 minutes of patience shouldn't be annoying.

This twunt on twitter is a moron. I read it on Buzzfeed and then learned of others who taunted police or bragged of crimes on Twitter and Facebook. This girl has zero remorse and she should be hit with some charge that at least strips her of her license for a couple of years.

__________________The rising People, hot and out of breath,
Roared round the palace: "Liberty or death!"
"If death will do," the King said, "let me reign;
You'll have, I'm sure, no reason to complain."

First, there is no again. We haven't been down the road of ramming words in your mouth. However, how did you anticipate someone to take the "i don't want to say they deserve to get hit, but..." But what? Enlighten us all because I read that as they don't deserve to get hit but if it happens then whatevs.

Frankly, leaving a sentence hanging like that is done for one of two reasons. You cannot finish a thought or you dare not to. At least man up and tell us what you meant if you don't want us to assume. If you had finished the sentence and it was twisted all around (because it happens to me and I get it) then that's another story, but you left it wide open.

First, there is no again. We haven't been down the road of ramming words in your mouth. However, how did you anticipate someone to take the "i don't want to say they deserve to get hit, but..." But what? Enlighten us all because I read that as they don't deserve to get hit but if it happens then whatevs.

Frankly, leaving a sentence hanging like that is done for one of two reasons. You cannot finish a thought or you dare not to. At least man up and tell us what you meant if you don't want us to assume. If you had finished the sentence and it was twisted all around (because it happens to me and I get it) then that's another story, but you left it wide open.

first, the poster previous to you ventured down that path.

second, i already explained myself. if people do stupid things and put themselves (and possibly others around them) in danger, then why would you be the least bit surprised when catastrophe happens? if that's not clear, then let me enlighten you that dare devils are more like to get injured or die from what they do than the average "normal," risk adverse person. that's all i will say and that's why i didn't want to get into it.

second, i already explained myself. if people do stupid things and put themselves (and possibly others around them) in danger, then why would you be the least bit surprised when catastrophe happens? if that's not clear, then let me enlighten you that dare devils are more like to get injure or die from what they do than the average "normal," risk adverse person. that's all i will say and that's why i didn't want to get into it.

Okay, but I don't think you can equate dare devils to those who cycle on the open road. Some are commuting and to do that they have to be on those roads. Maybe paths will lead them to their destination, but it takes a lot longer. If this is your idea then we all, in some capacity, should reasonably expect catastrophe just by walking out the door.

It is reasonable for me to believe that I am in more danger while on my motorcycle than I am in a car, but even still, I don't believe I should accept catastrophe. Same as cycling. Just because I choose to cycle, I stick as close to the shoulder as possible, and I am only using roads when I need to, I don't think I should accept my possible fate of injury or worse.

I think I see what you're saying but your initial sentence basically suggested that while not deserving, your approach is "whatever, you asked for it" when it comes to those "putting themselves in danger."